Saturday, November 16, 2013

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK 2 CD SET DUE DECEMBER 10TH FROM WATERTOWER MUSIC

Featuring Original Music by Academy Award® Winner Howard Shore

With An Original Song I See Fire Performed by

GRAMMY Nominated Singer-Songwriter Ed Sheeran

2 CD Special Edition Soundtrack Also Available

(November 5, 2013 – Los Angeles, CA) – WaterTower Music today announced details of the soundtrack to “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” a production of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM), the second in a trilogy of films by Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien. The soundtrack will be released on December 10, 2013, three days before the December 13 release of the film, and will be available both digitally and as a 2 CD set. A Special Edition soundtrack, featuring twelve extended tracks, a bonus track, expanded liner notes and interactive sheet music will also be available. Fans will be able to preorder the album at both iTunes and Amazon on November 5.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Original Motion Picture Soundtrack features the music of Howard Shore, one of film music’s most respected, honored, and active composers and conductors. "I’m looking forward to introducing you to Smaug," exclaimed Shore, who previously worked with director Peter Jackson on The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and on The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

Jackson added, "Howard Shore's music soars and enriches way beyond its connection to our images, a unique sound like no other. He truly has created an epic musical world of his own."

Shore’s music for The Lord of the Rings Trilogy has been performed in numerous concerts internationally. In 2003 he conducted the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in the world premiere of The Lord of the Rings Symphony in Wellington, New Zealand. Since then, the work has been performed nearly 300 times by the world’s most prestigious orchestras, and has been the subject of a book, The Music of The Lord of the Rings Films: A Comprehensive Account of Howard Shore's Scores.

Howard Shore’s music for The Lord of the Rings Trilogy stands as his most towering achievement to date, garnering three Academy Awards® for his music for those films, two for Best Original Score, and one for Best Original Song. Shore has also won numerous other honors for his film work, including four Grammys and three Golden Globe Awards, the Career Achievement for Music Composition Award from the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures, New York Chapter’s Recording Academy Honors, ASCAP’s Henry Mancini Award, the Frederick Loewe Award and the Max Steiner Award from the city of Vienna. He holds honorary doctorates from Berklee College of Music and York University, and is an Officier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres de la France and the recipient of the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award in Canada.

Included on the soundtrack is I See Fire, a new song created for the film by Ed Sheeran, the 22-year old British singer/songwriter and multi-platinum global phenomenon who was nominated in the prestigious “Song of the Year” category at this year’s 55th Annual Grammy Awards. Sheeran is also a two-time BRIT Award winner and recipient of the highly esteemed Ivor Novello award for best song musically and lyrically in the UK." “It was such an honor working with Peter Jackson on this song," Sheeran says. "Not only is he one of my favorite directors of my favorite films, The Hobbit was the first book I ever read as a child, so it means a lot that I get to produce music for the motion picture.”

Elaborating on the collaboration with Jackson, as well as filmmakers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, Sheeran stated, “I was allowed complete freedom to create what I thought was fitting for the film, which is very rare, and Peter, Fran and Philippa were always on hand to give notes and pointers. The entire team down in New Zealand was out of this world. The film is amazing, I'm still geeking out that I've done a song for a Peter Jackson film set in Middle-earth!”

"Ed Sheeran is a true Tolkien fan, and also happens to be a brilliant singer-songwriter,” offered Peter Jackson. I See Fire is Ed's emotional response to the film. It's perfect."

“It is an honor to once again work with the tremendous Howard Shore, who has created the musical voice of Peter Jackson’s iconic The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings films from the beginning,” stated WaterTower Music head Jason Linn. “And we are thrilled that the stars aligned for this collaboration with Ed Sheeran and his truly inspired original song for our soundtrack. WaterTower anticipates another exciting and successful soundtrack journey with these two exceptional musicians.”

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Original Motion Picture Soundtrack will be released on December 10, 2013. The track list is as follows:

DISC 1

1. The Quest for Erebor

2. Wilderland

3. A Necromancer (Bonus Track) *

4. The House of Beorn **

5. Mirkwood **

6. Flies and Spiders **

7. The Woodland Realm **

8. Feast of Starlight

9. Barrels Out of Bond

10. The Forest River **

11. Bard, a Man of Lake-town **

12. The High Fells **

13. The Nature of Evil

14. Protector of the Common Folk

DISC 2

1. Thrice Welcome

2. Girion, Lord of Dale **

3. Durin's Folk **

4. In the Shadow of the Mountain

5. A Spell of Concealment **

6. On the Doorstep

7. The Courage of Hobbits

8. Inside Information

9. Kingsfoil

10. A Liar and a Thief

11. The Hunters **

12. Smaug **

13. My Armor Is Iron

14. I See Fire performed by Ed Sheeran

15. Beyond the Forest

* Bonus track available on Special Edition Soundtrack only

** Extended Versions of these songs Available on Special Edition Soundtrack only

From Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson comes “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” the second in a trilogy of films adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien.

The three films tell a continuous story set in Middle-earth 60 years before “The Lord of the Rings,” which Jackson and his filmmaking team brought to the big screen in the blockbuster trilogy that culminated with the Oscar®-winning “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.”

The screenplay for “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” is by Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens & Peter Jackson & Guillermo del Toro based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien. Jackson also produced the film, together with Carolynne Cunningham, Zane Weiner and Fran Walsh. The executive producers are Alan Horn, Toby Emmerich, Ken Kamins and Carolyn Blackwood, with Philippa Boyens and Eileen Moran serving as co-producers.

Under Jackson’s direction, “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” was shot in 3D 48 frames-per-second and will be released in High Frame Rate 3D (HFR 3D) in select theaters, other 2D and 3D formats, and IMAX®. Production took place at Jackson’s own facilities in Miramar, Wellington, and on location around New Zealand. Post production took place at Park Road Post Production in Wellington.

New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Present a WingNut Films Production, “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.” The film is a production of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM), with New Line managing production. Warner Bros. Pictures is handling worldwide theatrical distribution, with select international territories as well as all international television distribution being handled by MGM. www.thehobbit.net

WaterTower Music, the in house music label for Warner Bros., has been releasing recorded music since 2001. Distributed through InGrooves Fontana, WTM has released over 150 titles, including the film soundtracks to “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” “Gravity,” “Man of Steel,” “The Dark Knight Rises,” “Game of Thrones,” and “The Great Gatsby Jazz Recordings” among others.

Monday, November 4, 2013

I'll have answers and more very soon, folks ... just as soon as my own schedule improves a tad. In the meantime, enjoy the new Smaug trailer. None of this is Shore's new score, but you can hear a few fragments of that in the latest VIDEO BLOG, if you're so inclined.

Thanks so much for you patience these past few months! I'm sorry I'm such a phantom right now. As ever, it's probably easiest to reach me via Twitter, if you're in a hurry.

Oh, and everyone go buy the Hobbit Extended Edition tomorrow ... if you want to see a slightly sleepy looking version of my talking-head blabbing on about songs and scores in the appendices. I'll tell you more about that in the near future as well!

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